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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30145578">Aftermath</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi'>SailorChibi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Watching the Show [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Crack Treated Seriously, Episode: s01 Volpina, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Jealous Lila Rossi, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi Lies, Lila Rossi salt, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug is over this shit, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Post-Episode: s01 Volpina, Post-Public Identity Reveal, Post-Reveal Pre-Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, aftermath of fluff and crack, dealing with outed identities, post secret identity reveal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:33:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,213</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30145578</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that all of Marinette's and Adrien's classmates know who they are, life has gotten a lot more complicated - and Lila has gotten a lot more vindictive.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir &amp; Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Watching the Show [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2218743</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>391</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I never really expected to find out that we're all trash for the "watching the show" trope, but here we are. As a heads up, I am prematurely turning off anonymous commenting for this because I don't want that idiotic Lila anon rearing their stupid face.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Following Tikki’s advice worked up to a certain extent, but when Marinette opened her eyes the next morning, she just knew there was no way she was going to be able to keep calm today. Her pulse started racing before she even opened her eyes, and a plethora of panicked thoughts rushed into her mind all at once. She wasn’t even fully awake and she was halfway to a panic attack: that’s how bad yesterday had been.</p><p>“Marinette, stop it. You need to calm down,” Tikki said sternly. A light weight settled on Marinette’s midsection, and she opened her to see that Tikki was looking down at her.</p><p>“I can’t. It’s just too much!” Marinette said, clenching fistfuls of her sheets. “Why is this happening to me?”</p><p>“I thought you would be happy that Adrien is Chat Noir,” Tikki said, and Marinette shook her head in despair.</p><p>“I am. That’s probably the only part of this whole disaster that makes me happy. But Tikki, this isn’t how I wanted to find out! I always thought that Chat and I would be able to reveal our identities to each other <i>after</i> Hawkmoth was gone. I had it all planned out…” Marinette trailed off, thinking longingly of her ruined daydream.</p><p>She’d always thought that she and Chat would make plans to meet somewhere following Hawkmoth’s defeat. It didn’t matter where: the Eiffel Tower, a café, even the school. They would meet up and have a chat, and then at some point they would either tell each other their real names or maybe even detransform if they felt daring enough. It would be scary and exciting and intimate all at once. It wasn’t fair that that had been taken away from them by some mystical, unknown force.</p><p>“I wanted us to be able to choose when we were going to tell each other,” Marinette whispered. “I wanted us to be able to talk about it when we were ready. I wasn’t ready, and I don’t think Adrien was either.” She thought back to his reaction yesterday. That stoic look on his face that barely hid his own feelings of panic and fear as the truth emerged. It was a look she had become familiar with working alongside Chat Noir, but it seemed strange to see that look on Adrien’s face.</p><p>She supposed she was going to have to get used to that now that she knew Adrien and Chat were one and the same. There were probably many more similarities between the two of them that she was bound to notice. She didn’t know how she felt about that. In a way, drawing more comparisons between the two of them felt a little like invading Chat’s privacy – but it was too late to be worried about that, wasn’t it?</p><p>“I know you did, and I’m sorry that didn’t happen,” Tikki said, drawing Marinette’s attention back to her. “But it <i>did</i> happen, and this is something that you have to deal with. Preferably now, before it starts affecting how Ladybug and Chat Noir operate together.”</p><p>Marinette hadn’t thought of that, and the realization filled her with both dread and determination. Paris needed them, so she would have to figure out a way to push past the awkwardness – but more than that, she had made Chat a promise that things would be alright. No matter what, Marinette was determined to keep that promise. She would not let this be the thing that ruined the greatest partnership she had ever known.</p><p>“You’re right. It’s going to be hard, but I think Chat and I will be okay. Adrien and I might be a different story,” Marinette said. “I don’t know how I feel about him now.”</p><p>Tikki flew up to pat Marinette’s shoulder. “That’s okay. You don’t need to decide yet. It’s probably a good idea for you to put your romantic feelings aside for now. Both of you.”</p><p>Both of you. Marinette started to blush as she realized that if Chat was in love with Ladybug, that meant Adrien… No. <i>No</i>. She was not mentally equipped to handle where that train of thought was going, and so she forcefully shoved it right out of her brain. She needed time to get used to the new normal before she even started to let herself contemplate something like that.</p><p>“It’s not just that, though. It’s not just Adrien and me who need to adjust to this. It’s… everyone.” Marinette grimaced and sat up, glancing over at her phone. As expected, she had over three dozen text messages. There was no doubt in her mind that every last message was from someone who now knew she was Ladybug.</p><p>“Right,” Tikki said, looking a little downcast. “That part is a little harder to deal with, but at least none of them can tell anyone about your identity. That’s a silver lining.”</p><p>“I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call it a silver lining,” Marinette said dryly, though she supposed Tikki was right. If it weren’t for the fact that none of her classmates could tell anyone, she was positive that Lila would’ve had Ladybug’s identity on the front page of every newspaper in Paris. She tried to imagine dealing with her parents and the general public knowing on top of everything else and shuddered. </p><p>“Well, whatever you want to call it, it’s a very good thing,” Tikki said. “Especially where Lila is concerned.”</p><p>Marinette exhaled loudly. “Right, Lila.” Now <i>there</i> was a problem that needed to be dwelled upon. Lila might not be able to tell anyone what she knew, but that would hardly stop her from making life as difficult as possible for Ladybug and Chat Noir. She and Adrien were going to have to be a lot more careful from now on, and wasn’t that just great?</p><p>“Marinette! Are you up? You’re going to be late!” Sabine called from below, making both Marinette and Tikki jump.</p><p>“I’m up!” Marinette shouted. She briefly contemplated telling her maman that she wasn’t feeling well. Surely no one would blame her for not showing up to school today…</p><p>But Tikki saw right through her, as usual, and shook her head. “No way. You <i>have</i> to go to school today. Are you really going to make Adrien face all of them alone?”</p><p>“… Damn it,” Marinette said, shoulders slumping as she realized she didn’t have a good response to that. Tikki was right. There was no way she could make Adrien do that. It wouldn’t be fair to him. This was something that they both needed to handle together – and she doubted that Adrien would be able to fake sick, since that would probably end up with Nathalie calling a doctor or something like that.</p><p>She picked up her phone and scrolled quickly through the messages, but none of them were from Adrien. That was a little disappointing, but not overly surprising. Knowing her silly kitty the way she did, he had probably thought a lot about contacting her first before ultimately deciding not to. He did like to let Ladybug take the lead wherever possible, which actually made a lot of sense when put together with what she knew of Adrien.</p><p>She decided against texting him – they’d see each other at school shortly – and instead, got up to get dressed. It was an easy decision to stay away from black or red and go instead with a pink sundress and white cardigan. She started to tie her hair into her customary pigtails before freezing and realizing that it probably wasn’t such a good idea to go with Ladybug’s hairstyle today.</p><p>“Marinette?” Tikki said, watching her. “You’ll be late.”</p><p>“Right. I’m coming.” Marinette set her hair ties down on the desk, deciding to leave her hair down today, and turned to grab her purse. She ushered Tikki inside, slipped on some shoes, and hurried downstairs.</p><p>Her parents were both preoccupied in the bakery: Tom was buried deep in a pile of bread dough and Sabine had a line of customers out the door. So Marinette was able to grab her lunch and head straight out the door without stopping. But as soon as she got outside, she started thinking that maybe a fake sick day would have been the way to go after all.</p><p>Because Alya was waiting for her.</p><p>This wasn’t new, not really. Alya often waited for Marinette at the bakery, and then the two of them would walk the rest of the way to school together. That had become a little less common after Lila came on scene. Sometimes Alya opted to walk with Lila to school instead. Marinette had always tried hard not to feel jealous of that, though that was easier said than done. Today though, she wished Alya had walked to school with Lila. She wasn’t ready for this.</p><p>“Hi,” Alya said with an uncertain smile.</p><p>“Hi,” Marinette said softly, her stomach fluttering with nerves. The last time she’d seen Alya, she’d basically been yelling at her. Actually, they’d been yelling at each other. She really didn’t want to fight with Alya today.</p><p>So she was shocked when Alya said, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”</p><p>“What?” Marinette said, blinking in shock.</p><p>“Nino pointed out to me that I was being a bitch yesterday. You and… um, Adrien were right. You had valid reasons to hide your identities. I know that you didn’t keep it a secret because you want to… right? You would’ve told me if you could?” There was something strangely vulnerable about Alya right then. </p><p>“Of course,” Marinette said immediately. It wasn’t quite the truth – she loved the anonymity that came from being Ladybug, and it was going to be a lot harder now that there were people who knew – but she wasn’t going to tell Alya that. It would just cause more arguments that Marinette wasn’t in the mood for.</p><p>Alya nodded. “That’s what Nino said. I just wanted to make sure.” She smiled at Marinette. “For the record, I think it’s really cool that you’re Ladybug. Thanks for saving my helpless butt so many times.”</p><p>Relived that Alya wasn’t mad at her anymore, Marinette smiled back. “You’re welcome, though you should really think about keeping your distance from akuma fights. Ladybug and Chat might not always be there to save you.”</p><p>“Yeah, sure,” Alya said with a dismissive wave of her hand, which totally meant that she was going to ignore what Marinette was saying. “So, does this mean that Ladynoir is now a thing?”</p><p>Marinette choked on her own saliva and just barely managed to cough out, “Wh-what?”</p><p>There was a familiar gleam in Alya’s eyes. “Well, you’re head over heels in love with Adrien, who is Chat Noir. And it just so happens that Chat Noir is equally head over heels in love with Ladybug, so… Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that means you and Adrien are head over heels in love with <i>each other</i>.”</p><p>Shit. Marinette really should have seen this coming. Of course Alya would have come to the same conclusion. She swallowed hard, avoiding Alya’s keen gaze. It left her feeling a bit like a prey that had been cornered by a predator, and she knew she had to cut Alya off at the pass if she wanted even a moment to be able to process this whole thing properly.</p><p>“I don’t know yet,” Marinette said, staring down at the sidewalk.</p><p>“Oh Marinette, come on! It’s so obvious!” Alya began.</p><p>“It’s just too much right now. Adrien and I literally <i>just</i> found out last night. I need some time, so I’d appreciate it if you could just drop this for now,” Marinette said, a little more sharply than she’d intended, lifting her head to look at Alya again.</p><p>For a second Alya looked somewhere between surprised and offended, but then her expression softened. “You’re right. That would be a lot to wrap your head around. You really had no idea?”</p><p>“None at all,” Marinette said, shaking her head. “I mean… I tried my best not to think about it… but even if I had, I don’t know if I would’ve thought Adrien was Chat Noir.”</p><p>“Hmm, I could’ve seen it,” Alya said thoughtfully. “But I wouldn’t have thought he had the time. Adrien’s literally a model, not to mention his dad’s a jerk and every moment of his day is planned out. How does he get away?”</p><p>Marinette shrugged, because those were questions she couldn’t answer, and started walking towards the school. Alya fell into step beside her, chattering away about all her incorrect theories over who Ladybug and Chat Noir were. It was a little annoying, but at least it was saving Marinette from endless questions – so she was completely willing to listen.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To anyone else in the Agreste household it was just another morning, but to Adrien everything was completely different. As the sunlight filtered in past his curtains and started pooling in warm golden circles on the floor, he rolled over and turned off his alarm about seven minutes before it was supposed to go off. He had barely slept, so there was no point in having set his alarm in the first place.</p><p>“I take it this means you’re awake,” Plagg said from where he was nestled on Adrien’s bedside table. Normally he slept on the bed with Adrien, but he’d moved to the table at about half past three after loudly complaining that Adrien was tossing and turning too much. Adrien might have felt worse about it, except he knew that Plagg was going to spend all day snoozing in his pocket.</p><p>"I've been awake all night," Adrien admitted, rubbing at his tired eyes with his palms. He'd tried his best, but sleep had eluded him. He just couldn't stop thinking about what had happened yesterday. That weird akuma or whatever it was. Watching that show. Finding out that Marinette was Ladybug.</p><p>Finding out at the same time as all their classes.</p><p>He stopped rubbing his eyes but kept his hands over them. Maybe if he didn't see the world, he wouldn't have to deal with yesterday's repercussions. Despite Ladybug's reassurance yesterday, he felt certain that things were going to change. Ladybug and Chat Noir had become very comfortable with not knowing each other's identities. This was going to throw their whole rhythm off. And since Ladybug had felt so strongly against sharing their identities, he was worried that she would be mad or upset once the truth of the situation had sunk in.</p><p>"You know they can't tell anyone," said Plagg, much closer to Adrien's ear than before, and Adrien blinked for a moment before realizing what Plagg was talking about.</p><p>"I know, and thank goodness for that," he said. He trusted pretty much everyone in the class to keep their mouths shut except for Lila and maybe Alya. There was no doubt in his mind that Lila would gleefully make use of the information for blackmail purposes if she could - and that was if she didn't just go straight to the papers to out them out of sheer malice. Alya wasn't like that, but sometimes Alya's journalistic instincts got the better of her. And for that matter, <i>anyone</i> in the class could slip up at any time. They might not mean to say something, but it could still happen. </p><p>"So then what are you worrying so much for? Doesn't this make your life easier in a way? Your classmates can cover for you now when an akuma attacks. Chloé would give you an excuse every time you needed it," Plagg said. He was now sprawled out on Adrien's pillow like he owned it, so close that Adrien could smell his cheese breath every time Plagg breathed out. It was a nauseating scent so early in the morning and so Adrien sat up to get himself out of range.</p><p>"I'm not so concerned about that. I'm worried about me and Ladybug. I wanted to know who she was, but not like this... and she didn't even want to know! What if this ruins our partnership? I know she said it wouldn't, but that's not really a promise that Ladybug can make," Adrien said, the words tumbling over each other in his haste to get them out before he burst.</p><p>Plagg sighed. "Kid, what you and Ladybug have is <i>much</i> stronger than this. It's going to shake things up for a bit, but that's it."</p><p>"But what if she's disappointed?" Adrien said quietly, hunching his shoulders as he voiced one of his deepest concerns. "What if she's upset that I'm Chat Noir?"</p><p>"Adrien," Plagg said, sounding so serious that Adrien twisted to look at him. "That is <i>not</i> going to happen. You are one of Marinette's friends. You know that she thinks very highly of you."</p><p>"I don't know that. She acts weird around me," Adrien said, remembering all those times that Marinette had practically run away from him. At first, he'd thought that maybe she still disliked him, but Nino had assured him otherwise. And now things had improved between them. They could actually have a whole conversation where Marinette didn't flee. But he could tell that something about talking to him still bothered her.</p><p>He supposed that now that she knew he was in love with her, the situation wasn't going to improve. That was a depressing thought.</p><p>"Believe me, she does not act weird because she doesn't like you," Plagg said dryly. "I would bet you a whole wheel of Camembert that Marinette is very happy that you are Chat Noir."</p><p>Adrien raised his eyebrows at that, realizing how serious Plagg was: Plagg <i>never</i> bet something as precious as cheese unless it was a sure-fire bet in his favor. He stared at his kwami thoughtfully for a moment. Maybe Plagg was right? Surely finding out that Adrien was Chat Noir had to be better than a stranger, right? At least he and Marinette knew each other. She knew that he wasn't a jerk or someone who couldn't be trusted - or at least, he sure hoped that she knew all of that by now. There were probably other people that Marinette had hoped would be under the mask, but surely he couldn't be at the very bottom of her list...</p><p>"In fact, I would bet you a wheel of Camembert that if you kissed Marinette today, she would swoon into your arms and never let go," Plagg added, smirking.</p><p>Adrien inhaled so sharply that he choked on his saliva, barely managing to sputter out, "Wh-what?!"</p><p>Plagg snickered. "I'm just saying. You're in a much better position than you think you are."</p><p>"Now you're just teasing," Adrien muttered between coughs. He was pretty sure his face was bright red. Kiss Marinette? It was an appealing thought, but he doubted it would ever happen. Ladybug had always turned down Chat's advances because she was in love with someone else. That meant Marinette was in love with someone else too. It didn't matter that they now knew each other's identities. He was no closer to winning her heart than he'd been before.</p><p>"She was jealous over you and Lila," Plagg pointed out.</p><p>"That doesn't mean much. Marinette knew something was off about Lila from the very beginning. She just wanted to protect me from Lila's lies," Adrien said. He felt a little bad he hadn't taken Marinette more seriously in the beginning. It was obvious she had great instincts about who to trust.</p><p>Plagg rolled his eyes. "She literally called you the love of her life in that show."</p><p>"Ju-just because it happened in that show doesn't mean Marinette really said that. We don't know that it was word for word," Adrien said, turning pink again. His heart fluttered at the idea that <i>maybe</i>...</p><p>"I'm pretty sure our conversations were word for word," Plagg said.</p><p>"How on earth could you remember? We weren't talking about cheese, and that's pretty much the only thing you remember perfectly," Adrien pointed out.</p><p>Plagg opened his mouth to argue that and then paused before shrugging. "Yeah, okay, you're not wrong. But still."</p><p>"But still nothing, Plagg. I've got to get going. I'm going to be late." Adrien threw the covers back and got off the bed, eager to end the conversation – it was just a little too much right now.</p><p>He rushed through his usual routine and was ready to go within twenty minutes. He headed downstairs, unsurprised to find that there was just a cold meal waiting for him in the dining room. There was no sign of Nathalie or his father, which meant that he’d be eating alone if he chose to eat. However, their absence did mean that at least he didn’t have to listen to Nathalie tell him where he was supposed to be after school. </p><p>He decided against eating and instead just left, sliding quietly into the back of the car. The Gorilla drove him to school in silence, as usual. Normally Adrien didn’t mind, but right then he could feel himself getting more nervous as they approached. He hadn’t spoken to anyone since everything had happened yesterday, not even Nino. He hadn’t dared to contact Marinette because he didn’t know if she’d want to hear from him.</p><p>“Man up, Agreste,” he muttered to himself as the car stopped right in front of the gates. His apprehension was growing – it had been hard enough to feel accepted by the class in the first place, and now he sort of felt like he might be back at square one – but he opened up the car and got out.</p><p>“Hey dude!” Nino’s voice was the first thing he heard, and Adrien realized that Nino must have been waiting for him. He shut the car door and turned to face his friend, uncertain as to what he should be expecting. The third degree? Anger? Frustration?</p><p>But all Nino did was smile and hold out his hand for a fist bump.</p><p>Much of the nerves that had been building up melted away like magic. Adrien smiled back and gently tapped Nino’s fist with his own. </p><p>“Good morning Nino,” he said, just as he always did.</p><p>“Hey. How was your night?” Nino asked, looking un-customarily serious. </p><p>“Not great. I was pretty nervous about today,” Adrien admitted.</p><p>Nino nodded. “I figured. I was gonna text you, but then I thought maybe it was better to just wait and see you here. I know how weird your dad can get when he thinks you’re getting too many texts.”</p><p>“I actually didn’t see my dad this morning, but thanks,” Adrien said. Most people wouldn’t have expected it, but Nino could be really thoughtful. It was one of the reasons that Adrien thought that Nino and Alya made such a great couple, since Alya could be pretty hotheaded sometimes.</p><p>“Have you heard from Marinette?” Nino asked.</p><p>Adrien shook his head, his stomach fluttering at the mere mention of her name. </p><p>“Well, that’s not surprising. I haven’t talked to Alya either, but I bet she’s waiting for Marinette outside the bakery right now,” Nino said, checking the time on his phone. </p><p>“I hope she doesn’t ask too many questions. This is pretty private stuff,” Adrien said, frowning. He suddenly wondered if maybe <i>he</i> should’ve gone to the bakery this morning to wait for Marinette. At the very least, he could’ve helped her fend off the worst of Alya’s questions.</p><p>“I’m sure she’s asking a <i>ton</i> of questions, but I’m equally sure Marinette will shut her down if she needs to,” Nino said. His smile faded as he turned serious. “I talked to Alya again last night and told her it wasn’t cool of her to harass you guys for keeping things a secret. I know that you had your reasons. Alya knows it too. She just doesn’t always think before she speaks.”</p><p>“I know,” Adrien said, a small smile returning to his face. “I wasn’t mad, and I don’t think Marinette is either. Yesterday was a lot for all of us. No one was their best self after all that.”</p><p>“So no hard feelings, then?” Nino said.</p><p>“None at all. We’re good so long as Alya is cool,” Adrien reassured him. He understood where Alya was coming from, but he wasn’t going to stand by and let her be mad at Marinette. None of this had gone down how he and Marinette would have hoped.</p><p>“Good,” Nino said. “Cause I have the feeling you guys are going to have more than enough trouble with Lila.”</p><p>Adrien sighed. “She can’t say anything to anyone.”</p><p>“I know, but that doesn’t mean she can’t make your life hard in other ways,” Nino pointed out.</p><p>“I’m trying not to think about that,” Adrien said, supposing that it was too much to hope that Lila’s grudge against Ladybug and Chat Noir would have died a quiet death overnight. </p><p>“Just giving you a heads up,” Nino said, straightening his cap. “What do you think the chances are that Mari’s bringing croissants?”</p><p>“Probably not likely,” Adrien said.</p><p>“Damn. Alright, let’s hit up a café before school starts.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Walking into class was simultaneously easier and harder than Marinette had expected to be. About two-thirds of her classmates were already there, and it felt like every single eye in the room snapped to her and Alya the instant they walked through the door. As Ladybug, she was used to that kind of scrutiny and had even come to expect it. Like it or not, that was a part of the job.</p><p>But as Marinette?</p><p>She kind of just wanted to run away and hide.</p><p>Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option when you had a stubborn best friend. Alya, perhaps sensing Marinette’s hesitation, hooked her arm through Marinette’s and bodily dragged her into the room, up the steps, and to their desk. She pushed Marinette down on their bench and then poked at Marinette’s shoulder until Marinette scooted over enough for Alya to sit down too.</p><p>“You don’t need to be so pushy,” Marinette said huffily.</p><p>“You’d be halfway home by now if I weren’t,” Alya said without skipping a beat, and Marinette couldn’t exactly argue with that because Alya wasn’t wrong. She stared down at her backpack, avoiding everyone’s gazes, and focused on taking out her things for the day. Her math and science books, her pens, her notebook – she lined up everything with the utmost care. </p><p>“Um, Marinette?”</p><p>Rose’s whisper made Marinette lift her head cautiously, and she realized that Rose and Juleka were standing right beside her. Rose had her hands clasped together in a way that meant she was nervous. Marinette looked up at the both of them, her stomach squirming with anxiety. No one had really said anything yesterday except for Alya and Lila, so she didn’t even know what everyone else thought about this.</p><p>She wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out.</p><p>But no sooner had that thought passed through her mind than Rose said softly, “I just wanted to say thank you.”</p><p>“What?” Marinette said, genuinely thrown. </p><p>“For… you know.” Rose cleared her throat and shot Marinette a very obviously meaningful look. “You put your life in danger every day just to protect all of us. So I wanted to say thank you.” She looked like she wanted to say more but didn’t. It was hard to know whether that was because she wasn’t sure <i>how</i> to say or if it was because the curse was preventing her from alluding to Marinette’s activities as Ladybug when other, unknowing ears might overhear.</p><p>“You’re… you’re welcome?” Marinette said uncertainly. How was she supposed to respond to that? Again, as Ladybug she was used to people feeling they owed her gratitude for what she and Chat Noir did. Ladybug had always made it a point to tell people that they didn’t need to thank her because it was her job, but people usually tended to do it anyway and she’d made her peace with that.</p><p>It felt a thousand times more awkward to get gratitude when she was just plain old Marinette, though. She had no idea what to do or say. </p><p>Luckily, at that very moment the door slid open, and Nino and Adrien walked in. And it was strange, how the sight of Adrien could simultaneously make Marinette feel a lot better and a lot weirder at the same time. Part of her was glad because Chat was there, and that meant she would have some back-up against this bizarre new reality. But another part of her was freaking out because <i>Adrien</i>.</p><p>Marinette was so not prepared for this, and in that moment, she absolutely regretted not staying home sick.</p><p>Because as it turned out, Adrien had one big advantage over her. There was a big difference between being a model and a superhero, of course, but either way he was used to getting a lot of attention in his civilian form. So even when all eyes in the room swung towards him when he entered, Adrien didn’t skip a beat. He smiled at all of them and walked calmly to his desk, no bodily dragging necessary.</p><p>But that wasn’t his real smile, Marinette realized in a flash. When she put what she knew of Chat together with what she knew of Adrien, she could recognize that fake smile for what it was. And it hurt her heart to see that fake smile and realize how often she had seen both Chat <i>and</i> Adrien wearing it. </p><p>“Hi Adrien,” she said before she could stop herself. Anything to turn that fake smile into a <i>real</i> smile.</p><p>Adrien looked right at her as he put his bag and the tray of drinks he was carrying down on the desk. Marinette felt a tingle run through her as their eyes connected. She was no stranger to staring into Adrien’s eyes, but it was definitely different when she could so easily imagine Chat’s mask on his face. If it weren’t for the fact that the Black Cat miraculous changed Chat’s eyes, she thought she might have recognized him sooner.</p><p>“Hi Marinette,” Adrien said softly, a little shyly. “I got you a drink.” He picked up one of the cups and held it out to her.</p><p>A little stunned, Marinette took it. The fragrant, tantalizing smell of coffee hit her nose when she peeled back the cap to take a sip. It was banana-flavored coffee, she realized instantly, from the café closest to the school. One of her favorites, and just what she needed after a long, sleepless night. But more than that, it was prepared <i>exactly</i> the way she liked it: sweetened by extra sugar and some cream. </p><p>Her instinct was to ask how Adrien had known how she liked her coffee, but then she realized what a dumb question that would be. How many nights had Ladybug and Chat Noir started a patrol with some coffee? It wasn’t always easy staying up late when you were a busy civilian. Coffee usually gave them both that extra punch they needed to stay up until after midnight.</p><p>How may nights had Chat shown up with this exact drink in hand?</p><p>For that matter, she realized that she knew Adrien’s order too. He preferred teas over coffee, but when he was drinking coffee, he liked it with plenty of milk but no cream or sugar. She had always teased Chat that he was turning into too much of a kitty, given how much milk he put into his coffee. More than once, she’d wryly told him to ‘have a little coffee with your milk’.</p><p>Alya jabbed her in the ribs and Marinette startled. It only then occurred to her that Adrien was still watching her, and that she hadn’t even said thank you for the drink. Most people probably thought she was being super rude, but there was a small, <i>real</i> smile on Adrien’s face now as he watched her take another sip. He was happy he’d gotten her order right. That was so like him.</p><p>“Thank you. It’s perfect,” Marinette said out loud, just as Ladybug had said to Chat so many nights.</p><p>“Don’t you mean <i>purr</i>-fect?” Adrien said, just as Chat had responded to Ladybug so many nights.</p><p>“Oh my gosh, that’s adorable,” Rose whispered, clutching at Juleka’s hand, and Marinette was abruptly reminded that they had an audience.</p><p>Both she and Adrien blushed and looked away from each other. Nino snorted and took another one of the cups, passing it to Alya while Adrien busied himself with sitting down at his desk and taking out his school things. Alya was madly typing something up on her phone now, and Marinette wondered if she should be worried. She sure hoped that Alya wasn’t typing up some kind of manifesto on the good ship Ladynoir.</p><p>“Adrien, I wanted to say thank you to you too,” Rose added.</p><p>Adrien was apparently quicker on the draw than Marinette because he didn’t ask why. He just nodded and gave that fake smile again and said, “It’s no problem, Rose. We’re happy to do whatever we can.”</p><p>It was a line that both Ladybug and Chat had delivered over and over, but somehow it seemed different when it came from Adrien. Marinette just couldn’t put her finger on why. Either way, it seemed to be enough for Rose. She smiled happily and walked back to her desk with Juleka in tow, which was honestly a relief for Marinette, and she was pretty sure that Adrien felt the same way.</p><p>Madame Bustier came in a couple of minutes later – unfortunately, Lila came in with her. There went Marinette’s hope that Lila might have been the one to call in sick today. Lila sneered at her as she walked past. Marinette just stared back with a stony expression, refusing to rise to Lila’s bait. It just wasn’t worth the effort right now. </p><p>When lunchtime came, Adrien turned around and looked at Marinette. “Could we talk for a moment?”</p><p>It seemed like the whole class stilled as they waited for Marinette’s response. Madame Bustier looked around in confusion, and Marinette wanted to facepalm.</p><p>“Sure,” she said, hoping that their classmates would <i>chill out</i> eventually. None of them could tell anyone what they had learned, but people were definitely going to wonder what was going on if people kept on being so obvious.</p><p>Adrien nodded and got up, so Marinette joined him. Knowing that they needed to go somewhere that they didn’t have to worry about being spied on, Marinette led him upstairs to the school roof. For good measure, and to prevent any additional bodies, she jammed the door so that it wouldn’t open from the inside. Then she walked far enough away from the door that no one would be able to overhear them.</p><p>“This is just the most awkward thing ever,” Adrien said, watching all of this.</p><p>“I know, right? I feel like we’re in a zoo with how everyone keeps staring,” Marinette said, moving closer to the edge of the roof. Somehow, just being up high made her feel better. </p><p>“I want to say that they’ll get over it, but this is pretty big.” Adrien walked over to join her. They both stared out at the city.</p><p>Just as they had so many times before.</p><p>“It is big, and it’s certainly not ideal, but we’d be in a much worse situation if whatever did it hadn’t made it so that they couldn’t tell anyone. Lila would have either straight-up blabbed or she would’ve tried to blackmail us,” Marinette said, crossing her arms over her chest.</p><p>“Did Master Fu have any ideas?” Adrien asked, looking over at her, and Marinette realized she should have expected that he’d be curious. Really, she should have texted him last night to let him know how her meeting had gone. She felt a little bad for not even thinking about it.</p><p>“Not really. He said that right about the time we were transported to… to wherever we were, he felt a strange but strong sense of magic within the city. It faded away about the same time we came back. He didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t think it was Hawkmoth,” Marinette told him.</p><p>Adrien frowned at that. “That’s… not ideal.”</p><p>“I know. I was hoping for a little more than that too,” Marinette said. “He really couldn’t tell me much.” She shrugged helplessly. She knew that Master Fu was just a person who couldn’t possibly have all the answers all the time, but sometimes it was so easy to start thinking of him as some all-knowing guardian – to the point when it was frustrating when he didn’t know anything more than she did.</p><p>“So what then? We just… forget about it?” Adrien said.</p><p>Marinette looked back at him and sighed. “I don’t like it either, but what else can we do? It’s not an akuma, Adrien. We don’t have anything to fight.”</p><p>“But what if come back? What if more people find out?” Adrien looked a little worried, and she knew he was thinking about his dad.</p><p>“Relax, kid.” Plagg popped out of Adrien’s pocket and stretched. “If it did happen again, you and Pigtails know how to get out. All you have to do is transform.”</p><p>“We had to transform in front of everyone,” Adrien reminded him.</p><p>“Just start carrying sleeping gas with you,” Plagg said easily.</p><p>Adrien put his hands on his hips. “Seriously, <i>that’s</i> your solution? Sleeping gas?”</p><p>Marinette couldn’t help giggling at how outraged he sounded. Adrien caught her eye and then started laughing too. And somehow, in that moment, Marinette felt better than she had in days.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I mean, I guess at least it’s not Hawkmoth,” Adrien said once they’d stopped laughing. He felt more comfortable with Marinette now, as though that fit of laughter had been exactly what they needed to break the ice. It was still a little weird, but somehow less so than before.</p><p>“Right? We’d be in a lot of trouble if Hawkmoth had access to something like that weird television show. He would know exactly who we are,” Marinette said. “And then he’d be able to target us and our families.” Her humor had faded into something a lot closer to concern, and Adrien frowned. He knew her well enough to know that the lack of an answer was going to drive her crazy.</p><p>“Well, maybe Master Fu could do some research on it,” Adrien said optimistically. “He doesn’t know about all the magic in the world, right? It could be a kind of magic he’s never heard of. Hey, maybe you and I should do some research too.”</p><p>Marinette shot him a faint smile. “The internet doesn’t exactly have a lot of information about the miraculous, Adrien. Believe me, Alya has already scoured it in her quest to find out who Ladybug is. The closest she came to finding anything was that Ladybug exhibit at the museum.”</p><p>“But we’re not looking for the miraculous this time,” Adrien pointed out. In fact, they had already established that whatever the magic was, it was most likely <i>not</i> the miraculous.</p><p>“Oh… I guess you’re right.” Marinette crossed her arms over her chest. “It couldn’t hurt to look, I suppose. Though I still don’t think we’ll find anything.”</p><p>“It’s better than nothing,” Adrien said. “Did Master Fu seem worried?”</p><p>“Not as worried as I would have expected. I mean, he wasn’t happy that everyone knew about our identities for sure. but then I told him that no one could tell anyone, and he seemed to feel a little better. He was more focused on making sure things would be okay between us, and that we didn’t let Hawkmoth know that anything had changed,” Marinette explained.</p><p>“Guess that means we better not get akumatized,” Adrien murmured. He didn’t know if Hawkmoth could pluck the knowledge of their identities out of their heads or not. It was hard to tell how much information Hawkmoth could get from a person that he akumatized without actually being akumatized. </p><p>But if he could, then either of them getting akumatized meant that there would be twice as much danger.</p><p>Marinette look troubled by that. “He also didn’t know if Hawkmoth akumatizing one of our classmates meant that Hawkmoth could get the information from them, either. After all, they wouldn’t exactly be <i>telling</i> Hawkmoth about us…”</p><p>“Right. Maybe I should have brought enough coffee for everyone,” Adrien commented. It had been an impulsive move to get a coffee for Marinette, spurred on by Nino buying an extra drink for Alya. The surprised but pleased smile on Marinette’s face when he’d given her the coffee, done up just the way she liked it, had been worth the mild teasing from Nino.</p><p>“If coffee alone could prevent akumatization, I would personally start up my own coffee chain,” Marinette said dryly. “Thanks for the coffee, though. I was tired and it helped to carry me through.”</p><p>“Yes, but you can’t live on coffee.” Tikki poked her head out of Marinette’s purse to survey the both of them with a vaguely disapproving look. “And your lunch is going by fast and neither of you have eaten.”</p><p>“What – oh shoot,” Adrien said, realizing that Tikki was right. He checked his phone and sighed. There wasn’t enough time for him to go home, which he actually wasn’t that disappointed by – but there also wasn’t enough time to run to one of the nearby cafés, eat, and then return to school. So that meant he was going to have to go to the cafeteria and be stared at by all of their classmates.</p><p>Marinette must have been thinking the same thing because she shook her head. “You can share my lunch. Maman and Papa always pack me too much. I usually give some to Alya, but I bet she’s already eating with Nino. So come here.”</p><p>She sat down against the wall that ran around the edge of the roof. After a split second of hesitation, Adrien sat down beside her. Marinette dug around in her backpack and pulled out a lunch bag. Adrien looked on curiously as she pulled out slices of freshly baked bread, some diced veggies, sliced up fruit, cubes of cheese, and slices of turkey. She arranged all of the food between them.</p><p>Plagg was hovering, staring zealously at the cheese. Adrien grabbed him before he could divebomb the food. Ignoring the fact that Plagg was squirming and whining, Adrien looked over at Marinette.</p><p>“Do your parents think you’re starving?” he asked curiously, a little amazed that they’d expect petite Marinette to eat all that.</p><p>She laughed. “I told you I always share with Alya. They know that. Besides, after I got Tikki, most of the leftover cookies in the bakery started disappearing at an alarming rate. Maman thinks it’s me. She keeps telling me I need to eat better food than just cookies all the time, and I’m pretty sure she’s trying to fill me up so I’ll stop pigging out on cookies.” She crinkled her nose and winked at Adrien.</p><p>He smiled. “Ah yes, I’ve heard that the great Ladybug has a real sweet tooth.”</p><p>“Close. It’s actually Ladybug’s kwami who is a sucker for sweets,” Marinette told him. To prove it, she took a cookie out of the bag and passed it to Tikki. It was gone in like three bites.</p><p>So apparently it wasn’t just Plagg then.</p><p>“You can let him go. It’s okay.” Marinette pushed the container of cheese closer. Adrien shrugged and let Plagg go.</p><p>“Cheeeeeeeese!” Plagg squealed gleefully, literally throwing himself into the container with such force that it tipped over and all of the cheese cubes inside went flying. Plagg scrambled after that.</p><p>Adrien shook his head. “I apologize for his atrocious manners.”</p><p>“Don’t feel bad, Adrien. Plagg has always been like this,” Tikki said, emerging from Marinette’s purse to perch on Marinette’s knee. “Very little comes before cheese when Plagg is concerned. I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t eaten you out of house and home.”</p><p>“Let’s just say that the majority of my allowance goes to cheese now,” Adrien said dryly, picking up a slice of banana.</p><p>Marinette winced. “Ouch, that sucks. At least I can get free cookies for Tikki anytime I need to.” She handed another cookie to Tikki, who took a much daintier bite this time.</p><p>“It’s okay. I don’t have a lot to spend money on anyway,” Adrien said. It wasn’t like he had a ton of free time to go shopping or hang out with friends, given that he usually had lessons or work after school. Sometimes he’d treat himself to an ice cream or a new video game, but most of the time he just stuffed his allowance into the back of his closet with the rest of his stash.</p><p>“I wish I could say that. I have so much fabric I’d love to buy,” Marinette said wistfully.</p><p>“Don’t you work in the bakery?” he asked.</p><p>“Yeah, and I do get some extra money from that, but it just never seems to be enough. Fabric and sewing supplies aren’t cheap, unfortunately. I feel like I’d have to work full time in the bakery just to earn enough money for it all, and I definitely don’t have the time for that in between school and being Ladybug,” Marinette explained.</p><p>Adrien nodded slowly because that made a lot of sense. He envied Marinette in a way. She seemed to be able to maintain a pretty good balance between friends, school, helping her parents out, and being Ladybug. His life, on the other hand, was consumed with lessons and school and work with precious little time for anything else. It was no wonder he went a little crazy as Chat Noir.</p><p>“So was Alya mad at you again?” he asked, deciding to change the subject.</p><p>Marinette picked up a little piece of bread and toyed with it. “I wouldn’t call it <i>mad</i>, exactly. She’s not happy, but I also think she understands a little bit better now why we did what we did. What about Nino?”</p><p>“The same, but he wasn’t as upset as Alya to begin with,” Adrien replied. “He hasn’t spent most of his time trying to figure out who I am.” </p><p>“Ugh, I know, right? Of all the best friends in the world to have, I went and picked the journalist who is obsessed with trying to figure out my identity. I can’t even tell you how many times Alya almost gave me a heart attack,” Marinette said, waving her arms around dramatically.</p><p>“Like with your history book,” Tikki piped up. </p><p>“Oh my god, yes. The history book. That was so stupid,” Marinette said. “First and last time I ever took anything that could potentially identify me on patrol.”</p><p>“We’ve both had our close calls,” Adrien said. He thought back to that day with Volpina, and how complicated it had been trying to be both Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir. Now that he knew Marinette was Ladybug, he understood that it had been a closer call than he’d realized. </p><p>And there had been other times too. Like when Mylène got akumatized, and he and Marinette had been a part of the group who was sealed into the school. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t realized that meant Ladybug had to be one of his friends. Or when his own father got akumatized, and Ladybug had been forced to act as a guard. Frankly, it was a miracle that neither of them had figured it out before.</p><p>“Yeah. That’s why I think, in a lot of ways, maybe this isn’t such a bad thing,” Marinette said hesitantly, and Adrien looked at her in genuine surprise.</p><p>“Really? You were always so insistent that we keep our identities a secret…” Adrien said.</p><p>“It was just to protect us and our families, Adrien. I still don’t think it’s a great idea. But now that it’s happened, there’s no going back and so I think we need to make the best of it. At least now we’ll have an easier time coordinating with each other. We don’t need to be transformed to stay in contact. So if there’s an akuma attack somewhere, I can text you and you can text me rather than just hoping that we’ve both heard about it,” said Marinette. </p><p>Adrien nodded. “That makes sense. And… do you think we could hang out outside of patrol too?” He gave her a hopeful look.</p><p>For some reason, Marinette turned pink. “H-hang out?” she stammered. “Like… like a…?”</p><p>“Like, I don’t know, getting coffee together? That’s what I usually do with Nino. I’d just like to get to know you better. I know plenty about Ladybug, and I know some things about you, but I’d like to learn a lot more now that I know you’re the same person,” Adrien told her. </p><p>He had always closely guarded the things he knew about Ladybug, like her favorite color or the fact that she was an only child. They were the little bits and pieces that made up the core of his lady, and so he carefully memorized and savored each one. Now that he knew Marinette was Ladybug, he was able to add a few more things to that list, like the name of her best friend and her favorite pastry.</p><p>But there was so much <i>more</i> he could learn…</p><p>“I think that’s a good idea,” Tikki said, smiling at them. “The more you know about each other, the better you’ll be at acting like a team.”</p><p>“Oh.” Marinette grabbed her water bottle and took a long drink before nodding vigorously. “Yeah, sure. We can do that.”</p><p>“Great,” Adrien said, relieved. A little part of him had been worried that she would say no. There had always been a barrier between Chat Noir and Ladybug that he had never been sure how to cross, and he’d wondered if Marinette would want to keep that barrier in place even now.</p><p>The fact that she had said yes filled him with all the hope in the world that maybe they really would be okay.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was all going too well.</p><p>She really should have known better, Marinette reflected later. <i>Nothing</i> ever went that well. Something always went wrong, and that something was usually an akuma. So really, she shouldn’t have been surprised when Alya started jabbing her in the ribs in the middle of math. Marinette was just opening her mouth to tell Alya to knock it off when a cell phone was shoved under her nose.</p><p>Said cell phone was opened to a twitter feed that was full of people tweeting about the akuma that had just shown up about six blocks away. Marinette instantly grabbed the phone away from Alya and started scrolling down the page, her heart pounding. So far it seemed like no one had been injured, but according to the reports the akuma was turning people into – flowers?</p><p><i>Flowers</i>? Seriously?</p><p>“Marinette, no cell phones in class,” Madame Bustier reprimanded from the front of the room, and Marinette belatedly realized that she hadn’t been nearly as subtle about taking Alya’s phone as she should have been.</p><p>“But –” Marinette said, an excuse springing to the tip of her tongue. </p><p>“No cell phones,” Madame Bustier said, leveling her with a stern look.</p><p>“Sorry, Madame.” Alya reached over and took the phone back, shooting Marinette a significant look. Marinette stared back, uncertain as to what she should do. Obviously she couldn’t just sit around, but what kind of excuse was going to get her <i>and</i> Adrien out of class?</p><p>Adrien had turned to look at them out of the corner of his eye when Madame Bustier first spoke. He must have realized that there was something amiss because he put his hand up – always polite to a fault, that was Adrien for you. It only took a few seconds for Madame Bustier to notice him and nod in his direction.</p><p>“Yes, Adrien?” she said.</p><p>“I’m suddenly not feeling well, Madame Bustier,” Adrien said with that sweet, angelic smile.</p><p>Marinette had never thought about it before, but that was the <i>exact</i> same smile Chat usually pasted on before he tried to get away with something.</p><p>Madame Bustier immediately looked concerned. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>“My, uh, stomach hurts,” Adrien said. “Would it be alright if I went to the nurse’s office? Marinette could take me since she’s class president.”</p><p>“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Lila said before Madame Bustier could respond. “There’s an akuma around! It could be dangerous for Adrien to leave the classroom right now.” She looked at Madame Bustier with an exaggerated look of concern.</p><p>That little brat!</p><p>Marinette could hardly believe her ears, except it was <i>just like</i> Lila to try and make things harder on them, wasn’t it? She couldn’t tell anyone who Marinette and Adrien where, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to make their lives harder. That point was only reaffirmed when Lila looked over at Marinette and shot her a smirk. Marinette glowered back at her.</p><p>“An akuma? Hmm. The school hasn’t activated its procedure yet,” Madame Bustier murmured. “Adrien, maybe you should stay here for a couple more minutes. I don’t want you getting stuck out in the hallway if we go into lockdown.”</p><p>“But…” Adrien looked as frustrated as Marinette felt.</p><p>If the school activated its typical procedure, things would go one of two ways. Either the students would be told to evacuate (if it seemed like there was going to be destruction to the building) or the school would go into lockdown. If it was the former, it would be easier for her and Adrien to escape. But if it was the latter, then things were going to get a lot trickier.</p><p>And unfortunately, for an akuma who was turning people into flowers, it was much more likely they’d go into lockdown. That meant she and Adrien would be trapped in the classroom with everyone – including Madame Bustier. Who didn’t know about their identities. Who Marinette <i>really</i> did not want to know about their identities.</p><p>So now what?</p><p>Alya was glancing over at her. As soon as Madame Bustier turned away, Alya leaned over and whispered, “What are you going to do?”</p><p>“I don’t know. Lila totally screwed us over!” Marinette hissed back.</p><p>“Marinette… I don’t think Lila did that on purpose. She was just worried about you and Adrien,” Alya said, looking a little conflicted.</p><p>Marinette stared at her in sheer disbelief, wondering if Alya really believed that. Hadn’t watching that stupid show been enough to prove to Alya that Lila was a troublemaker? </p><p>But maybe it hadn’t been.</p><p>After all she and Adrien had transformed before the episode was finished and transforming had magically transported everyone back to the school. Which meant that the class hadn’t actually seen what Lila was capable of. Besides that, Marinette realized that everyone had been so distracted by the revelation of their identities that anything about Lila had fallen to the wayside. </p><p>“Believe me, Lila is <i>not</i> worried about me and Adrien,” Marinette said finally. </p><p>Alya just shook her head. “You don’t know that. Lila has the ability to be a nice person, I know it.”</p><p>“She literally promised to try and out us in any way that she could!” Marinette hissed.</p><p>“Yeah, but she can’t. None of us can,” Alya said, like that made up for the fact that Lila <i>wanted</i> to.</p><p>It just made Marinette want to grab her pigtails and yank out of pure frustration. She just didn’t understand why everyone in the class, especially Alya, was so oblivious to Lila’s spiteful ways. Alya was so smart and noticed every detail of every little thing when it came to everything <i>but</i> Lila – like somehow, she had developed a gigantic blind spot just for Lila.</p><p>In front of her, Nino and Adrien were having a whispered conversation. Suddenly, Adrien gave a dramatic groan and doubled over.</p><p>“Ooh, my stomach! It really hurts!” he groaned.</p><p>Madame Bustier turned back to him, looking worried. “Adrien?”</p><p>“He really needs to go to the nurse,” Nino said, patting Adrien’s back.</p><p>“I’ll take him!” Lila exclaimed, jumping up.</p><p>“I thought you were worried about the akuma,” Marinette said before she could stop herself. It came out way more bitter than she had intended, and Alya shot her a surprised look.</p><p>“I am. But if Adrien needs an escort, I’d be willing to take that chance,” Lila said, giving Adrien a sweet smile. Too bad Marinette could tell that smile was as fake as they came.</p><p>Alya clearly couldn’t, though. She sighed and said, “You’re so kind, Lila.”</p><p>“I’d rather Marinette went with me if that’s okay. She’s the class president,” Adrien said again, and honestly that didn’t even matter in the grand scheme of things, but Marinette could tell that he was desperate and grasping at straws.</p><p>“That’s right. It’s my responsibility to take anyone who isn’t feeling well to the nurse.” Marinette jumped up. “Lila, you should stay here. It’s not safe for people to be out in the hall unnecessarily, right, Madame Bustier?”</p><p>Their teacher nodded. “I’m afraid Marinette is right, Lila. Please stay here.”</p><p>“But -!” If looks could kill, Marinette would’ve been dead on the spot. Lila looked on murderously as Marinette stepped down and offered Adrien her arm. Adrien leaned heavily against her as they made their way out of the classroom. </p><p>Of course, the instant Marinette shut the door behind them, Adrien straightened up and said, “Boy, Lila is really laying it on thick.”</p><p>Marinette sighed. “Tell me about it. We gotta figure out what to do about her, Adrien. You can’t fake a stomach-ache every time an akuma attacks. You don’t want the school contacting your father about it.”</p><p>“God no,” Adrien said, looking a bit horrified by the thought.</p><p>“And now she’s going to be looking for every opportunity she gets to make life difficult,” Marinette added. It had been hard enough for both of them to get away before without Lila making it harder.</p><p>Adrien sighed. “Let’s just go deal with the akuma for now, okay? We can talk about Lila later, but if we get caught out in the hallway, we’re never going to get away again.”</p><p>“You’re right.” Marinette inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly. She pushed all thoughts of Lila out of her head for now and ran after Adrien when he headed for the door. </p><p>It actually didn’t take them too long to deal with the akuma. Some fights could last for hours, but this one was all wrapped up in about forty-five minutes. Ladybug and Chat Noir fist bumped each other for a job well done. Then they both headed back towards the school. Since they had managed to divert the fight away from that area, Ladybug knew that classes were still on-going.</p><p>“What do you want to bet that Lila is going to make it a point to mention that you didn’t come back?” Chat called over to Ladybug.</p><p>“You didn’t come back either. Maybe you shouldn’t go back at all,” Ladybug said. “We never did get to the nurse. What if Madame Bustier asks?”</p><p>Chat shrugged. “We can just say I laid down for a little while in the locker room or something and that you stayed with me. I’d rather go back than have Madame Bustier trying to contact Nathalie or my father about another absence.”</p><p>“That makes sense. I just… ugh.” Ladybug shook her head in frustration as they got to the back entrance of the school. Her stomach was the one churning now, but the emotions were all about frustration and anger rather than because of something she had eaten.</p><p>She just didn’t understand why Lila had to be so terrible all the time!</p><p>“It’ll be okay,” Chat said, though he didn’t exactly sound convinced.</p><p>“I just wish – ” Ladybug clenched her fists and sighed. “I wish that everyone could see Lila for what she really is. I wish that they could see her the way <i>we</i> see her. I wish that they could see everything she’s done to us so far!”</p><p>“I know. I do too,” Chat said, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s de-transform and get back to class.”</p><p>Ladybug nodded. “Okay. Tikki, spots off!”</p><p>“Plagg, claws in!”</p><p>The flash of light from their de-transformation seemed much brighter than usual, but Marinette didn’t really get why until she opened her eyes and saw that she wasn’t standing outside the school anymore. Adrien was still right beside her, but they were now standing in a big room.</p><p>A familiar big room.</p><p>And they weren’t alone.</p><p>“Um… Marinette?” Alya said slowly, looking around.</p><p>Marinette opened her mouth. Then she closed it. She didn’t know what to say. Because behind all of her classmates, a white screen standing expanding on the far wall. The screen flickered with static for a moment, then went black. Marinette’s heart started thudding against her ribs so hard that it hurt as white words formed on the screen.</p><p>
  <i> Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir – Chameleon</i>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Find me on <a href="https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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